The panel shared some behind-the-scenes anecdotes, with Coppola revealing that Al Pacino auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone six times. Coppola said that Pacino’s girlfriend called him, telling him he was torturing Pacino.

According to the Guardian, the decision to cast Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone was also not an easy option; executives felt he would not be ‘commercially beneficial’.

It was later revealed that Coppola was only allowed to cast Brando if the actor would do a screen test for free and put up a $1million bond to ensure he wouldn’t cause trouble on set.

The filming process was also difficult, according to Pacino, who at one point in production cited The Godfather as ‘the worst film ever made’.

Coppola also commented on today’s film industry, saying that The Godfather wouldn’t ‘get a go-ahead’. “The first Godfather cost $6.5m and the second cost about $11m or $12m. If you convert that, it would take a major studio (to make it), but it would never get through the process of getting an OK,” he said.

“Nothing can get a green light unless it’s a movie that they can have a whole series of, or a Marvel comic.”